Duleep Trophy 2024: How prominent Indian cricketers fared in the first round?

India B and India C emerged victorious in the first round of matches of the Duleep Trophy 2024.

India’s domestic season got underway with the Duleep Trophy 2024 this month. The first round of matches in the four-team competition concluded with India B and India C taking the wins.

At the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, Abhimanyu Easwaran-led India B defeated Shubman Gill-led India A by 76 runs. At the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s India C defeated Shreyas Iyer’s India D by four wickets.

These two matches were crucial for the players and the selectors as the Indian squad for the two-match test series against Bangladesh is set to be announced soon. Performances of a few Indian players in these games would have been keenly observed by the selectors.

In this article, we will see how the Indian test players (minimum one test) featured in the first round of Duleep Trophy 2024.

Performances of Indian test cricketers in the first round of Duleep Trophy 2024:

India A players:

Mayank Agarwal

Agarwal recorded scores of 36 and 3. He played his last test in 2022 and is unlikely to get a recall.

Shubman Gill

The India skipper captain Gill managed 46 runs in two innings. He was bowled by Saini in the first innings while leaving a delivery.

KL Rahul

On a challenging pitch, KL Rahul played two gritty knocks, scoring 37 (111) and 57 (121). He was his side’s highest scorer in the second innings. Rahul, who missed the last four tests against England due to an injury, is expected to be picked for Bangladesh tests.

Dhruv Jurel

Jurel, who impressed everyone during the England test series, managed two single-digit scores in the Duleep Trophy 2024. With Rishabh Pant likely to return, Jurel is expected to be the backup keeper for Bangladesh tests.

Kuldeep Yadav

Kuldeep picked only one wicket in this match. But that is no indication of his quality of form. He would walk into India’s squad against Bangladesh, but is not a certain starter in the XI.

Akash Deep

Fast bowler Akash Deep was outstanding in this game as he returned with figures of 4/60 and 5/56. He also showed his batting skills, cracking 43 (42) in the second innings.

India B players:

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Yashasvi Jaiswal, who had an epic test series against England earlier this year, scored 39 runs in two innings in the first Duleep Trophy 2024 match.

Sarfaraz Khan

Sarfaraz Khan made a bumper test debut against England with three quickfire knocks. The same was on display in the Duleep Trophy in his second innings as he hit 46 (36). He is expected to be retained in the test squad.

Rishabh Pant

All eyes were on Pant in this game as he made his red-ball comeback since his car accident in December 2022. While he fell for only seven runs in the first innings, Pant blasted 61 (47) in the second innings to show his form to the selectors. He is likely to return to the test setup.

Washington Sundar

Currently out of the test team, Washington Sundar didn’t have much to show from this Duleep Trophy 2024 game – he took two wickets and scored nine runs.

Navdeep Saini

Saini, whose only two tests came on the 2020/21 Australia tour, scored an unexpected half-century in Duleep Trophy 2024. He hung around for 144 balls and scored 56 runs. With the ball, he snared five wickets in two innings.

Mukesh Kumar

Medium pacer Mukesh Kumar picked up five wickets in the match, including that of KL Rahul in India A’s second innings.

India C players:

Rajat Patidar

After falling for only 13 in the first innings, Patidar did well in the second innings to score 44 runs, playing a crucial knock in his side’s successful chase.

India D players:

Shreyas Iyer

Iyer, who was dropped from the test side during the England series, managed only nine runs in his first innings in the Duleep Trophy but bounced back with a splendid half-century in the second innings, whacking 54 runs in 44 balls.

Devdutt Padikkal

Devdutt Padikkal, who has one test match under his belt, bagged a duck in the first innings but scored 56 (70) in the second innings.

KS Bharat

Out of the test side, Bharat scored 29 runs in this Duleep Trophy 2024 fixture.

Axar Patel

Axar showed his class with the bat once again as he scored 86 runs in the first innings after his side was struggling at 48/6. With the ball, he snapped three wickets.

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